Greenville upset 2nd seed Kalamazoo four games to two. Huge goaltending from Mission and Malcolm, both of whom have .946 Sv% and GAA of 1.8 and 1.73. Malcolm had a 53 save 3OT win in game 5. Low-scoring series, but Andy Rowe, who carried the team down the stretch, came up big with 3G3A. Key contributions from Jean, Yogan, and St. Croix.

They advance to play the Wheeling Nailers, who are the longtime ECHL affiliate of the Penguins.

Weird ECHL fact: All four bottom seeds in the Eastern Conference (Cincy, Wheeling, Greenville, Fort Wayne) won their series.

I like McI, but he has Hugh Jessiman 2.0 written all over him... Although he is better at what he does at his job, still didn't warrant a 1st round pick.

I thought he was effective in the AHL and showed promise that he would be in the NHL if not next season then the one after. Hasn't he improved in all areas of the game to a significant degree every year?

Jessiman failed miserably, busted and basically never made the NHL at all even in a bottom line role. McI seems guaranteed to at least be a competent, tough, crease clearing guy on the bottom pair.

Or do you simply mean he's big and won't fulfill expectation of being the next Chara or Beuk? Or are u just referring to the short-sightedness involved in grabbing him over the other talents available that year?

Jessiman never got better. He wasn't even terribly effective at the AHL level. McIlrath is already a very good AHL player, getting top-pair minutes, and his game has improved each season. In terms of his development as a hockey player, at this point, there's really no comparison between he and Jessiman.

If we're talking about a guy drafted too high, for something other than skill, who may not justify his draft position, okay. The jury's out on that. Too early to say, and I think his development in the AHL indicates he's unlikely to bust completely like The Huge Specimen.

Jessiman never got better. He wasn't even terribly effective at the AHL level. McIlrath is already a very good AHL player, getting top-pair minutes, and his game has improved each season. In terms of his development as a hockey player, at this point, there's really no comparison between he and Jessiman.

If we're talking about a guy drafted too high, for something other than skill, who may not justify his draft position, okay. The jury's out on that. Too early to say, and I think his development in the AHL indicates he's unlikely to bust completely like The Huge Specimen.

Agreed. I think he will be a top-4 defensive d-man in the NHL. PK and ES time. Pair him with a more swift skating d-man and he will thrive.

Jessiman like McIlrath had a major knee issue early to deal with. Jessiman missed pretty much a whole year of college rehabbing it. He never really got his game back before he turned pro. His first two seasons Hugh spent considerable time in Charlotte--then in the ECHL. McIlrath has never been to the ECHL--even after coming off of kneecap displacement injury he stepped into the lineup halfway through 12-13 not fully 100% and played pretty well considering in the second half. This past year he improved off of that.

Jessiman had real balance issues on his skates. He eventually turned into an average AHL'er. McIlrath has some balance issues too. He's better than an average AHL player now--he is a good AHL'er. McIlrath plays the harder position. He's still a work in progress. Not expecting Dylan to make the Rangers out of training camp. I can see him called up to the Rangers next year if and when the need arises. When he does make the Rangers I expect he'll be bottom pairing for a while anyway.

Anyway I remember Jessiman in training camp--going into the corners being outmaneuvered and pushed off the puck by sometimes much smaller guys. I remember when Steve Downie schooled him in a fight--these were issues about balance more than anything. McIlrath needs to work on his edges a bit more but he doesn't have nearly the issues that Jessiman had. You don't want to go into the corners or get caught along the boards by McIlrath and the likes of Steve Downie would have got planted with a little cross over the spot where he died if he ever tangled with Dylan.

Jessiman never got better. He wasn't even terribly effective at the AHL level. McIlrath is already a very good AHL player, getting top-pair minutes, and his game has improved each season. In terms of his development as a hockey player, at this point, there's really no comparison between he and Jessiman.

If we're talking about a guy drafted too high, for something other than skill, who may not justify his draft position, okay. The jury's out on that. Too early to say, and I think his development in the AHL indicates he's unlikely to bust completely like The Huge Specimen.

Well said. I can understand the idea that he was taken too high, but the Jessiman comparison is way off base. McIlrath will be an NHL regular. The only question is whether or not he'll be a bottom-pairing guy or something more.

Not one person who is watching Hartford games thinks MCI=Jessiman. The rest need to shut up. If you don't watch a player and your opinion of him is vastly different than that of all those who do, then your opinion is very likely wrong.

Not one person who is watching Hartford games thinks MCI=Jessiman. The rest need to shut up. If you don't watch a player and your opinion of him is vastly different than that of all those who do, then your opinion is very likely wrong.

I have said that his balance issues scare me, particularly when guys go wide on him and occasionally in the corner - there is a parallel there, make no mistake. BUT, he's clearly improved over the season and he has shown flashes of dynamism that I don't think I ever saw from Jessiman. He does still need to make significant strides to be the player we want him to be, but I don't think he's a bust.

But relevant to how we assess our scouting/management of the draft. If we had taken a player who is actually playing NHL hockey now, this Ranger team would be deeper RIGHT NOW. How relevant would it be to have more depth this year, especially another scoring forward?

But relevant to how we assess our scouting/management of the draft. If we had taken a player who is actually playing NHL hockey now, this Ranger team would be deeper RIGHT NOW. How relevant would it be to have more depth this year, especially another scoring forward?

I think everyone agrees about the relevance of that. However, the point of THIS thread is to track his development as a player, so the point in bold is irrelevant to this conversation.

McIlrath OT/flame wars used to give me migraines as a mod and admin. Now I can just ignore them if I choose.